Burglaries and car break-ins are on the rise in the 111th Precinct according to police at the May Community Board 11 meeting in Bayside.
On Monday, Officers Luigi Galano and John Erdman of the precinct’s Community Affairs unit provided attendees a monthly crime update and information on the Little Neck home invasion.
“The past 28 days, we’ve had an increase in burglaries around this area,” said Galano.
According to 111th Precinct Crime Stat data, burglaries over the current 28-day period increased to 20 in 2019 compared to 10 in 2018.
“Year to date, right now we’re at 74 burglaries whereas last year at this time, we were at 67,” Erdman said. “Last year, our burglary numbers were the lowest [they’ve] ever been in the 111th Precinct. If you compare it to 2017 numbers, we actually were a little bit lower than we were previously.”
The officers added that there has been an increase in car break-ins within the precinct.
“It’s not really the cars being broken into, unfortunately, they’re being left open. So when you park your vehicle, make sure you do lock the cars,” Galano said. “A lot of times the criminals just check the door handles to see if they’re unlocked.”
Galano advised car owners to park in well-lit areas and advised against leaving extra key fobs in glove compartments.
Crime Stat data illustrated that year to date, all grand larcenies had gone up, with 122 reported in 2019 versus 83 in 2018. Over the current 28-day period, grand larcenies increased from 18 in 2018 to 30 in 2019.
Following the crime update, Erdman updated the community about the recent home invasion in Little Neck, where two men robbed and raped a 34-year-old woman. According to the cops, the robbers fled the scene with approximately $10,000 in cash.
They advised attendees to look out for the vehicles the robbers used — a Mercedes Benz SUV and a Mercedes Benz E-Class.
